


The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future

by gang_gang



Category: Universal Century Gundam, 機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア | Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Seagulls - Freeform, That's my secret cap - i'm always mad about the ending of CCA, idiots to lovers, why does everyone stop wearing seatbelts after 0079
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-11-02 02:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20591858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gang_gang/pseuds/gang_gang
Summary: Char and Amuro fall back down to Earth.





	The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future

Amuro had just enough time to throw the last of the RX-93-v’s remaining solid fuel into a vicious five-second burn before the ground rushed up to meet him. The mobile suit hit the earth feet-first and the legs immediately collapsed to the knees under the force of the crash landing, the shock travelling upwards through the chassis and throwing him against his restraints. The sudden deceleration and impact filled Amuro’s vision with flickering stars. The Gundam kneeled for a second longer, then slowly pitched forward with a metallic moan of agony and crashed onto its side in a cloud of sand, seawater and steam. The parachute fluttered down behind it in the breeze and draped itself across the machine’s shoulder and head like a NATO-orange burial shroud. For a long while the only movement was the settling dust and the gentle flickering of the trail of fire left by Amuro’s descent across the beach. Molten glass shone where the sand had been blasted. Waves broke against the superheated surface of the mobile suit and rose in thick sheets of vapour. Startled gulls wheeled far above.

Amuro came to with a cacophony of alarms ringing in his ears and found he couldn’t see anything. With heavy fingers he fumbled his cracked helmet off his head and it slipped out of his hands and hit the side of the cockpit with a _thunk,_ rolling underneath him. It took a second more to realise he was hanging sideways off the pilot’s seat. Working automatically, Amuro hit the electronics killswitch under the right console and the urgent warnings on the display went dark. He blew the explosive bolts on the hatch and was met with sudden fresh air as the cockpit door went tumbling away. Straightening up with a groan, he finally slapped the release on his restraints and fell out of the seat.

Outside he found himself under the orange sky of the parachute with the ocean shallows washing up around his knees. Debris was embedded in the sand alongside wet black rocks. Amuro spat blood into the saltwater, wondering if he was really alive. He staggered out of the waves and up the gentle slope of the beach, the sharp air almost a shock to his lungs. Was he back on Earth? How long had it been?  
Beyond the cover of the parachute, he looked up at the sky. Shooting stars peeled through the clouds into the distant ocean, mostly obscured by the smoking wreck of the Nu-Gundam. Amuro regarded it with a mixture of sadness and gratitude before his senses finally returned to him.

_Char! _

He looked back up the beach. The coastline, littered with debris from their reentry, stretched for long miles in both directions before vanishing behind cliff outcrops. Nothing but the dark silhouette of forest and the setting sun stood beyond the sand. Amuro stumbled up the beach as a sudden panic gripped his chest.  
He’d let go of the escape pod sometime just before he had hit the ground. It couldn’t have fallen far away. Shards of metal bobbed in the water but didn’t reveal what he was looking for. He couldn’t hear anything but his own breathing and the sound of the waves, and distantly, the cries of shorebirds.

‘Char!’

He crested the dunes and then he saw it - the pod’s red dome, submerged in sand. Amuro half-ran half-fell towards it and scattered plaintive gulls in his wake. The lever on the hatch was still hot as he forced the seized metal and pulled it open over his head breathlessly.  
Char was halfway to standing when he looked up at Amuro in the entryway. Blood streaked the side of his face but his eyes were sharp under his brows. Sharp, but swimming in exhaustion.  
The two of them stared at each other silently for a second, Amuro breathing hard. Then, with his jaw set, Amuro wordlessly extended his hand. Char considered it for a long while, then ducked his head. When he looked back up he wore a smile of defeat, and he took Amuro’s hand in his own, firmly. Amuro pulled him from the cockpit and onto his shoulder, and the two of them stumbled out onto the sand.

They lay side by side with the waves at their feet, watching the wreckage of mobile suits and battleships blaze across the sky. Char was the one to finally break the silence.  
‘Why?’  
Amuro turned to look at him.  
‘Why what? Why didn’t it work?’  
‘Why didn’t you let me go?’  
Amuro shot him a frown.  
‘And let you go up in a blaze of glory, like some martyr? I don’t think so.’  
Char chuckled.  
‘Do you always feel like you have to personally hold me accountable?’  
_‘Someone_ has to! You can’t keep running from your fuck-ups, you know.’  
‘I can give it my damn best shot.’  
‘But I won’t let you. And I’ll stay not letting you. And I expect you to do the same for me. It’s your fault I got dragged back into space in the first place.’  
‘That so?’ Char asked, bemused.  
‘Yes. You, and the AEUG, and Neo-Zeon, and the Feds. Won’t ever just leave me alone.’  
‘You can’t only blame others for the circumstances of your life.’  
‘And you’re not allowed to tell me about pinning the blame on other people.’  
Char looked back up at the fading light of the sky.  
‘Suit yourself.’

They were quiet. Sunlight glinted off the battered frame of the Nu-Gundam. Gulls lined it now, perched on the machine’s crest, drying their feathers.  
‘What now, do you think?’ Amuro asked quietly.  
‘Mmm.’ Char stretched his hands behind his head. ‘I don’t want to think about it.’  
‘Do you think the war’s over?’  
‘For now, maybe. There will always be another.’  
‘I hope it’s not for a long time. A very long time.’  
‘I’m not sure what we’d do without it.’  
‘Well, I know,’ Amuro rebutted. ‘I’m done. I’m finished.’  
He looked away.  
‘With all of this.’  
Char watched the curve of Amuro’s face, the sand clinging to his hair.  
‘Can you see yourself as anything other than a soldier, Amuro?’  
Amuro sighed.  
‘...No. No, I can’t. You would know that thinking about the future during a war is a luxury you can’t afford.’  
‘Not even dreaming?’  
‘But that’s all there is to it. Dreams. What else is there for you in the world if you don’t fit the spot that’s been made for you?’  
Char blinked. Then he sat up.  
‘Amuro.’  
‘What?’  
‘You’re a Newtype-’  
Amuro winced.  
‘Don’t bring Newtype stuff into this.’  
‘No, listen to me,’ Char said, suddenly serious. ‘You are the future. We both are. And you owe it to others- other Newtypes, others who were children like you -to ensure their own futures.’  
‘Isn’t this why we were warring in the first place?’ Amuro said. ‘Some grandiose philosophy-slash-eugenics bullshit?’  
‘Newtypes do not exist to be weapons, Amuro. They never were. In fact, they’re not even so spectacular, because they’re still _people.’_  
‘Glad to know at least you think so.’  
‘What this means is that the world will never have a place for you unless you make one for yourself, and all the others who come after you.’  
‘I can’t see how to do that without fighting.’  
‘You _will_ have to fight Amuro, we’ll both have to fight our whole lives. But the weapon you have is _understanding._ Understanding of others, of people, of other Newtypes. Of _knowing_ others. That’s the ability you possess, that you can use to create that life.’  


Amuro looked up at Char, then broke into a wide smile. He laughed as he sat up, sand brushing off his back.  
‘I wish I understood _you!’_  
Char sighed kindly.  
‘But do you know what I mean?’  
‘You mean, it’s not going to be easy, is it?’  
‘Of course not.’  
‘But when has it ever been easy?’  
‘Some things are,’ Char said.  
The two of them contemplated each other as the sun faded over the trees behind them. Stars were starting to appear far above the sky, glittering through the clouds. That smile still played on Amuro’s face beneath tired eyes. He looked down at his hands, then shook his head as if coming to some ridiculous conclusion.  
‘What is it?’ Char asked.  
Amuro leaned across and kissed Char on his top lip, gently. He pulled away, but Char kissed him back, reaching up to cup Amuro’s cheek with one gloved hand and twisting his fingers into his hair.  
When Amuro sat back, he shot Char a look.  
‘Just promise me this.’  
‘What’s that?’  
Amuro picked up Char’s hands in his own.  
‘Never, ever, do this again. _Ever.’_  
Char chuckled.  
‘Promise me?’ Amuro insisted.  
‘I promise.’

**Author's Note:**

> do you ever just wake up pissed off about gundam? i wake up every morning pissed off about gundam. so i decided to do something about it. also i guess if i write about mobile suits it has to include them crashing!
> 
> i wrote this in one night with minor editing, so excuse any clunkiness. may be subject to updates. 
> 
> to everyone who has left kind words on my other work, i love you. to everyone also writing UC gundam fic, i love you too. i'm sorry i only ever post when im extremely stressed out! maybe one day this will change.
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoyed ✧


End file.
